There's no doubt awards can do wonders for a writer's self esteem. After all, an award is a validation of a writer's hard work. But is it, in all cases, a validation of that particular work's quality? Are all awards credible? Can a mediocre writer judge a book or have the ability to see another person's mediocre work? When judges know in advance the author and publisher of a book, can they be one hundred per cent fair? Do they act with objectivity and professionalism and don't allow their personal feelings to get involved even if they dislike or like the author? Does belonging to the organization that gives the award improves chances of winning? When I look at the statistics of winners from some of these organizations, I have to wonder.
Having read books which were 'award' winners, I really have to ask myself these questions. Sometimes the books have been great and justified the award. But in other instances the books have been poorly written. How did these books get picked up as winners? Is there a chance all works submitted were mediocre and the winner was simply the less mediocre among the rest? When I read 'award-winning author' these days, a little red flag goes up in my head. There are simply so many 'award-winning' authors out there, the term has certainly lost some of its strength.
Obviously, I'm not talking here about the National Book Award, Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, nor of the HUGO and Bram Stocker awards, but of those that are open to small POD presses like the EPPIE, Dream Realm Award, PRISM, IPPY, Foreword Book Award, among various others. The YPPY and Foreword awards seem to be the ones with more cachet.
As for sales, it seems awards sometimes help and sometimes don't. I've heard of authors whose book sales increased, and from others who really didn't see much difference. Having myself bought books based on an award, it's fair to say that some readers may be impressed enough by it to make a purchase. Awards do help to put an author's name out there among the readers and publishers and can be effective tools of book promotion when used in back cover blurbs, and other forms of advertising.
So what can organizations do about ensuring the credibility of their awards? For one thing, make sure that all writers judging the books are excellent writers--only these will be able to best discern the quality material from the mediocre. Every time a mediocre book is given an award, all those others good authors who have won the same award by writing quality books will suffer for it. It's just like with POD presses. Those publishers who accept everything regardless of quality and disregard editing are the ones who give the rest of the POD presses a bad name, which is a real pity.
That said, I think an award is a good thing for authors. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. If you have the cash to spend (some contests have entry fees as high as $60-$70), it's fun to participate and wait for the outcome. And if you win, it'll do wonders to your ego, bring your name out there to the public and serve as a marvellous tool of promotion. It will also look damn nice on top of your mantelpiece, where you'll be able to show it off to your obnoxious cousin Harold in one of those cozy family reunions.
